That treated toilet paper will cost 7 cents per 4 1/2" square!
Five years back I bought some yellow crepe paper sheets on clearance from a small craft store. The crepe paper is flame resistant. The sheets were cut into 4 1/2" squares.
Granted, the crepe paper is stiffer than the Estes T.P. wadding but I've gotten very good at packing it.
I went online to check prices.
Quest style wadding (the purple squares on the left) are much like the parade float "pomps tissue squares" sold HERE
The squares are 5 1/2" square, Larger and stiff to pack, these do work well if installed correctly.
From Stumps Party, one package of 300 pieces is $2.99. With $8.95 shipping, it comes down to 4 cents a square.
If you buy four packs (1,200 squares) the price ends up being under 2 cents a square.
The crepe paper sheets are available HERE
NOTE: These are older prices from an older blog post.
A large folded sheet is $1.07 for one package. 80, 4 1/2" squares can be cut from each sheet.
With $7.00 shipping the cost is 10 cents per square.
But if you buy four packs -
The cost (with shipping) is 3 cents a square!
I've had great luck with the crepe paper wadding. The old Centuri Stellar wadding was crepe paper.
After a launch it's easy to find and pick up. I re-use quite a bit of it.
I used to buy it from www.crepepaperstore.com, but their stock is very low. Try the Blick link from the previous paragraph.
Before anybody reminds me about "dog barf" or cellulose insulation -
I've used dog barf in the past. I know it's the cheapest way to go in large diameter models. I rarely fly models larger than a BT-60 diameter.
I'm concerned about ejection charge "blow-bys". The dog barf doesn't stay in a sold mass when ejected and easily breaks up. The crepe paper can be compacted a bit and stays in one piece.
One way to go is to lay in a sheet of wadding, followed by dog barf and then another piece of wadding.
A large folded sheet is $1.07 for one package. 80, 4 1/2" squares can be cut from each sheet.
With $7.00 shipping the cost is 10 cents per square.
But if you buy four packs -
The cost (with shipping) is 3 cents a square!
I've had great luck with the crepe paper wadding. The old Centuri Stellar wadding was crepe paper.
After a launch it's easy to find and pick up. I re-use quite a bit of it.
I used to buy it from www.crepepaperstore.com, but their stock is very low. Try the Blick link from the previous paragraph.
Before anybody reminds me about "dog barf" or cellulose insulation -
I've used dog barf in the past. I know it's the cheapest way to go in large diameter models. I rarely fly models larger than a BT-60 diameter.
I'm concerned about ejection charge "blow-bys". The dog barf doesn't stay in a sold mass when ejected and easily breaks up. The crepe paper can be compacted a bit and stays in one piece.
One way to go is to lay in a sheet of wadding, followed by dog barf and then another piece of wadding.
Hi Chris, as you can tell I've fallen a bit behind in reading your Blog. :) There is a best of both worlds I learned from Fred Shecter. Before putting in the motor, put in one or two pieces of wadding. Now put in the doggie barf. Now blow the whole thing down the tube. Yes it can taste icky. Done. The piece or two of wadding acts like a little piston. Anyways, it works. And you have less litter to pick up. Though I did read you clean up your wadding.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeff,
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've learned a few things from Fred Shector's forum posts. I believe he posted about pulling friction fit motors immediately after a flight. While you would think the engines would swell a bit from the heat, they do pull out much easier right when they are picked up.
What you've commented about a "wadding piston" is what I've done before when using dog barf at a club launch. I never blew it down the tube before. I'll have to give that a try.
Fred Shector has given great advice before.
Hi Chris,
ReplyDeleteSomething Ive been using in my LPR small diameter rockets either in place of regular wadding or in combination with the cellulose is similar to crepe paper sheets, are rolls of party streamers. They are cheap,fire resistant, .99 cents for 2 rolls, comes in many colors (if you wish) and they are in nice handy rolls!
Hi Jerome,
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's the same stuff!
I prefer the squares a bit wider so I buy it in larger sheets and cut it to size.